Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone or anything from Bleach. It's as simple as that. Everything else, however, is mine. :D

Chapter 9: The Date

I sigh with relief as I reach the door of the apartment. Urahara told me that he needed to get an early start on a resupply run tomorrow and sent me home early, giving me my first Saturday evening off since I started training with him. I'm looking forward to relaxing and spending an evening alone.

As I step inside I'm surprised to see my mother's shoes by the door. Well whatever. I'm sure she'll head out to the nearest bar soon. Intent on getting started on relaxing, I open the freezer door and dig for the quart of ice cream I bought earlier this week.

"Oh, honey you're home." I turn, ice cream in hand, to see my mother standing in front of her bedroom door putting earrings in. She's dressed in a nice dress and has makeup on. I can't help but frown. That's awfully fancy for my mom's usual dives.

"You look nice mom. What's the occasion?" I ask, as I rummage in the utensil drawer for a spoon, my interest already gone in anticipation of the ice cream.

"I have a date!" she tells me joyfully, disappearing into her room again. I pull a spoon out and dismiss any real thoughts of interest in my mother's date. Instead I focus on the ice cream and pry the lid off.

My mom comes back out arranging things in her purse. "You'll never guess whom it's with," she tells me playfully as she slips on her shoes. I grunt noncommittally, doing my best to ignore her as I dig my spoon into the ice cream.

"Do you remember that little neighborhood clinic that took care of us after that car accident? Well I went back there yesterday and thanked the doctor, Isshin Kurosaki, and he asked me out! I'm so excited! Have a good evening Taylor and don't wait up!" She waves cheerfully at me and snaps the door shut.

I freeze in horrified shock for a moment, my mouth open with loaded spoon inches from it. Dread quickly settles in my stomach as my brain slowly processes what just happened.

"WHAT?"

…The Kurosaki Clinic…

Ichigo lay stretched out on his bed. For once the house was quiet. His sisters never made too much noise and his dad had just left on a date or something. Rukia had disappeared too, probably to go see Urahara. Even Kon was being quiet as he lay on the floor coloring in a coloring book that he had stolen from Yuzu.

Ichigo was just contemplating taking a nap when the door ball rang, repeatedly and loudly. Ichigo cracked an eye open, irritated, as he heard confused yelling and a muffled apology coming from downstairs. Running feet pounded up the stairs, and Ichigo sat up just in time to see his door fly open.

"Ichigo!"

"T-Taylor?" Ichigo stared. Taylor stood in his doorway, flushed and panting like she'd been doing a lot of running. But, that wasn't the real reason he was staring.

Ichigo forced himself to close his mouth as he felt his face heat up. Taylor was dressed in a tight T-shirt and a short denim skirt. The hat that she claimed he had damaged was also on her head, hiding her blonde hair. And while it's true that he saw her everyday at school in a skirt, it wasn't a skirt like this. This skirt was short, and tight, and denim, and it looked damn good. Man, she's got great legs… And the T-shirt did her far more justice than the school uniform shirt did.

The only thing that ruined the picture was the raggedy hat on her head, the one she wore everyday on her way to and from school. It hid most of her hair expect for a peek of bright blonde bangs. Not for the first time he wondered why she wore it. It certainly wasn't doing her any justice.

"Ichigo do you know what your dad's doing right now?" Taylor demanded, still panting slightly. Ichigo forced himself to look at her face, but was unable to come up with a reply, instead opening and closing his mouth several times like a fish.

Taylor, suddenly realizing where he had been looking, reddened. "It's laundry day alright!" she shouted, clearly embarrassed. Ichigo was embarrassed to find that he was disappointed.

"Well, from where I'm at I hope laundry day is everyday!"

Taylor froze and slowly shifted her gaze downward to where Kon, whom she had stepped on when she busted into the room, was giving her a thumbs up.

With a terrified screech Taylor kicked Kon across the room. "Is that stuffed animal talking?" she cried, her yell bordering on hysteria.

Ichigo quickly seized on the distraction. This situation could easily get a lot more embarrassing if things didn't move in another direction. "Geez, calm down. Yes he's talking, but he's not really a stuffed animal. He's a mod-konpaku," Ichigo replied, standing and picking Kon up.

Ichigo was pleased to see that Taylor had gotten completely derailed and that her attention was no longer on him. "He's a what?"

Ichigo sat back down on his bed. "He's a mod-konpaku, a modified soul, but we call him Kon for short. He's an artificial soul created by the Soul Society to fight Hollows. He's pretty much harmless though."

"I'm not harmless!" Kon protested. "I'm a lean, mean, Hollow fighting machine!"

"O…k…" Taylor's expression was half way between disgust and confusion. Ichigo fought the urge to snicker.

"So what are you doing here anyways?" he asked her.

Ichigo was surprised to see her face visibly blanche. "Do you know what you're dad's doing right now?" she asked, intensely.

"Yea. He's on a date or something," Ichigo replied nonchalantly, dropping Kon on the floor.

"Yea. He's on a date with my mom!" Taylor practically screeched, horror in her eyes.

Ichigo froze, his expression matching hers.

"WHAT?"

…

We decided quickly that the best thing to do would be to stop our parents date. Ichigo said he knew where his dad would take my mom, and we headed out, sprinting for downtown. Unfortunately we hadn't caught up with them yet…

"Are you sure you know where they're going to go?" I ask sullenly, willing myself not to think about what would happen if our parents actually started dating. Just the thought threatens to make me sick. It would just be so…wrong… Ah! I mentally shake myself to dispel the image.

"Yes!" Ichigo snaps back. He's obviously annoyed with my lack of faith. "We're almost there." He turns ahead of me around a corner and suddenly leaps back, running into me with enough force to knock me down.

"Hey!" I shout, stumbling backward as I try to regain my balance. I land on my butt, my hat tumbling from head and my hair falling free.

"S-sorry" he says and it sounds like he actually means it. I take his offered hand and he pulls me back up. He is just a second slow to release my hand and almost seems reluctant to do it. I feel a blush starting to creep onto my cheeks.

"What was that about?" I mutter, embarrassed, as I reach down and grab my hat. I dust it off as he gives me a long, puzzled look.

"Why do you wear that hat anyways?"

I pause in pulling my hair back and look at him with an irritated frown. "It's cause my hair stands out. I don't really want to deal with the type of attention that I get because of it, so I hide it. Surely you can understand that," I say with irony, indicating his mop of orange hair.

"I guess…" he replies, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his head.

"So why did you just knock me down?" I accuse trying to change the subject. I don't need to go into my insecurities with Ichigo.

" I said I was sorry," he mutters, turning around in time to miss my scowl. "They're just around the corner…" We both peek our heads around the corner. Indeed our parents are there. Ichigo's dad has opened the door of the restaurant for my mom. She gives him a smile before going inside. Eagerly he follows.

"Now what?" I ask Ichigo as we pull back around the corner.

"Come on," Ichigo replies, and without a backward glance he turns around the corner towards the restaurant. I quirk an eyebrow at him skeptically, but follow him nonetheless.

We enter the restaurant and are greeted by a hostess. I examine the room as Ichigo talks to her. It's a cozy little restaurant obviously locally owned and operated. The building we're in must be old. It's dark and a bit musty inside, and the room is shaped oddly, with lots of little nooks and crannies where the building has been renovated over the years. The décor is as mismatched as the building, with few of the sets of tables and chairs actually matching. Things probably accumulated over the years, but no one bothered to get rid of the old furniture. Large potted plants scattered throughout the room complete the atmosphere and add privacy as they help isolate the tables.

This restaurant is exactly the kind of place you would take someone on a romantic date. Oh geez…I feel queasy at the thought.

"Follow me," the hostess says interrupting my thoughts. She leads Ichigo and I into the restaurant proper, apparently heading for the back of the room. We round a small corner formed by the placement for an enormous fern and I just catch a glimpse of my mother and Ichigo's dad before jumping back.

"H-here's good!" I blurt out. Ichigo and the hostess both turn to look at me, confused. I move my eyes several times in the direction of our parents on the other side of the fern. Ichigo's frown deepens but he sneakily leans around the corner.

With a startled flinch, he leans back. "Yep! Here is good!"

"Are you sure?" the hostess asks, still confused. "There are tables at the back of the room that are more, ah, private."

Ichigo and I are thrown for a second. And then…

"No i-it's ok, really!" I blurt again, blushing. This hostess is awfully forward to imply that…that we're on a date or something! I can feel my cheeks get even hotter, my palms start to sweat, and my heartbeat become erratic. Geez what's wrong with me? Why am I so embarrassed?

Ichigo catches on and agrees, just as red as I am. The hostess merely shrugs, but gives us a sidelong look that clearly says 'That's where I would be'. I catch her muttering as she leaves, "Suit yourselves."

We both sit down and I let out a relieved sigh as quietly as I can. Ichigo, who is seated next to the plant, leans around it again. "This is a good spot. I can see them perfectly."

I nod as he turns to face me again, his cheeks still a faint pink. I feel my own cheeks warm in response. What is wrong with me? Man, this is so stupid…

An awkward silence stretches between us.

…Later that Afternoon…

"It looks like they're getting ready to leave," Ichigo said leaning forward so the fern would hide him again. Taylor nodded, but didn't meet his eye. She almost looked…disappointed. Ichigo couldn't help but feel disappointed too.

After a brief awkward silence they had begun to talk. Not about anything deep or important, but just a normal conversation. It was the first time the Ichigo had a real conversation with Taylor. Sure, they said one or two things to each other during school or while they were fighting a Hollow, but that was it. She hadn't talked much about herself, but he still felt like her had learned a lot about her.

Until today Ichigo hadn't realized how smart or witty Taylor was. Sure she could be snarky and sarcastic, but that just seemed to fit who she was. He now understood why Rukia had become good friends with her. Ichigo found that he liked Taylor too. In fact he was finding that he really liked her.

Ichigo directed his train of thought away from this direction as Taylor stood up. With that miniskirt on Ichigo would find himself in big trouble if he kept thinking about how much he liked her. "Come on," Taylor said, still without looking at him. "Let's get outside first so out parents don't see us."

"Yea," Ichigo stood too and dug around in his pocket for spare change. They hadn't ordered anything but water since they didn't have any money, but Ichigo felt bad about leaving without giving their waiter some kind of tip. Outside Ichigo followed Taylor until they were back around the corner from earlier. They both leaned around it to watch for their parents.

They came out of the restaurant laughing and smiling. Ichigo grimaced as his dad offered Taylor's mom his arm. Ichigo's grimace deepened as she took it smiling. They headed off down the street and around the opposite corner towards what Ichigo knew was the nearest movie theater.

With a wave to Taylor he followed them, with Taylor close behind. This time however, she didn't just follow him. Instead Taylor walked next to him and Ichigo couldn't help but feel pleased. They hadn't gone more than a block when Taylor suddenly stopped.

"Wait," Taylor commanded, reaching out and grabbing Ichigo's wrist.

"What're you…" Ichigo's question died in his throat as he looked back at her. Taylor's eyes had become unfocused as if looking at something far away and her expression was completely blank. He waited for about a minute, Taylor's hand still locked around his wrist. Suddenly Taylor blinked, her eyes refocusing on Ichigo's face.

"There's a Hollow." Taylor stated, her voice deadly serious.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Taylor met his eye steadily.

Ichigo didn't hesitate. "Lead the way." As they ran off they both silently agreed that they would worry about their parents later.

…10 Minutes Later…

Ichigo and Taylor knew they were getting close when they heard the screaming. A few seconds later they came to an empty parking garage, used by the nearby office buildings during the week. Just inside the structure there was a female ghost being menaced by the smallest Hollow that either one of them had ever seen.

The woman must once have been a regular housewife. Her dark hair was pulled back and she was wearing a plain pink dress and a bloodstained apron that had probably gotten that way when she died. She was cowering against the inside wall of the parking garage.

As for the Hollow…well there wasn't much to it. It was tiny, probably only around three feet tall. Its body was all black, with the typical hole straight through its chest. Its mask looked like a caricature of a human skull, round and cutesy. The only real menacing part of the Hollow was the way that its yellow eyes gleamed hungrily. As Ichigo and Taylor watched it laughed and began to advance on the woman's ghost.

"You ready?" Taylor asked, pulling her gikongan from her pocket. Ichigo responded with a curt nod and also took his gikongan out. They both swallowed the pills, their souls exploding from their physical bodies.

"Hold it!" Ichigo shouted, stepping forward with one hand on his zanpakuto's hilt.

"Eh?" The Hollow turned to look at them obviously bemused at having its meal interrupted. "Oh! Soul Reapers! Well you two will be a much better meal than her." The Hollow turned back to the ghost who flinched under its gaze. "Get lost," it told her, making a shooing motion with its hands- er -claws. The woman didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet and ran. Taylor kept an eye on her until she was out of sight to make sure that she had gotten away safely.

Ichigo and Taylor both drew their swords. The Hollow let out a little bubble of laughter. "Well come get me Soul Reapers. If you think you can!" It then crossed its arms smugly over its chest.

Ichigo snorted in derision. With a roar he ran forward, and swinging his massive sword above his head, he brought it down and cleaved the little Hollow in half. The two halves of the Hollow slumped to the ground. Taylor let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding as Ichigo turned and flashed her a triumphant grin.

Ichigo was pleased. "Easy as pie," he said, sheathing his sword. Ichigo turned to leave when he saw Taylor's expression change from one of relief to horror.

"Look out!" she shouted jumping forward. Ichigo ducked and was shocked to see two Hollow's pouncing on him. There was a flash of silvery steel and the Hollows were cut in half. Taylor had gotten to him in time.

Ichigo stood up again to see the four Hollow pieces lying on the ground. "That was close," he said trying to sound lighthearted.

"I don't think it's over yet…"

"Huh?"

Ichigo and Taylor watched in horror as the pieces of Hollow began to writhe and wriggle, their shapes twisting and expanding. Slowly four complete Hollows stood where there had been four halves of two before. All four Hollows threw back their heads and roared and then leaped forward to attack. Ichigo and Taylor responded in kind, swinging their swords wildly to fend off the ever-increasing number of attackers.

Soon Ichigo found himself standing back-to-back with Taylor, surrounded by a throng of tiny Hollows. "Now…what…" he panted. If they didn't finish this soon he was worried they weren't going to make it.

"We need to figure out which one is the original…and kill it."

"Didn't I do that to start with?"

"I don't think so. I think the original Hollow must have made of copy of itself and then attacked that ghost just in case someone tried to kill it."

"Huh…" Ichigo pondered that for a moment. It made sense, but how were they going to find the original?

"Ichigo…" Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see Taylor fiercely staring him in the eye. "Can you cover me?"

Ichigo hesitated for a moment. But, if Taylor was going to trust her life to him he wasn't about to let her down. Not after he had screwed up the night that she had become a Soul Reaper. "Yes," he replied his expression just as fierce.

"Good." She flashed him a quick smile before turning around again and closing her eyes. Ichigo could feel her spiritual pressure change against his back, almost like it was stretching out and above him. She was going to try and sense where the original Hollow was hiding.

With a screech one of many Hollows threw itself at them and the wild fight began again, with Ichigo darting around trying to make sure that Taylor was safe. However, the more Hollows that he cut down, the more that regenerated to attack him. Ichigo quickly found himself overwhelmed as he tried to fight them off alone. Come on Taylor. Hurry!

"THERE!" Taylor shouted, and Ichigo turned to look up where she was pointing. On the level of the parking garage above them sat another Hollow identical to the ones surrounding them. It was well hidden against the darkness of the upper level. The Hollow, realizing that it had been spotted, jumped up and disappeared.

He heard Taylor yell and a bright white streak of spiritual pressure swung off her blade, cutting down the Hollows between them and the original. "Go, Ichigo!" she shouted, drawing back into a defensive position to cover his back.

Ichigo did as he was bid and jumped up to the next level of the parking garage. Looking around he spotted the Hollow running up the ramp to the next level. Ichigo jumped again, and landed in front of the Hollow. With a terrified screech the Hollow turned and began to run back down the ramp, but Ichigo jumped forward and killed it before it could go more than a couple of paces. As the original Hollow dissolved the ones surrounding Taylor dissolved into nothingness too.

Ichigo let out a sigh and then jumped back down to the first level. Taylor had already sheathed her sword. She looked exhausted.

"You ok?" Ichigo asked.

"Yea." Taylor managed to favor him with a tired smile. "You?"

"Yep," Ichigo replied, sheathing his own sword. Ichigo looked around. Their battle hadn't done any damage. They were just standing in an empty parking garage.

"I guess we make a pretty good team." Ichigo said, trying to sound off hand.

"Yea," Taylor replied, as if the realization had just dawned on her. "I guess we do." Taylor smiled again.

Ichigo found that he couldn't look away with the smile lighting up her face like that. His heart began to beat faster and he spoke again to cover his sudden nervousness. "I hadn't realized how good you are, especially at sensing Hollows. You really have improved."

"Oh, thanks." Taylor looked away this time, a bit sheepishly, and blushed.

Ichigo, embarrassed that he had made Taylor blush, began to blush too.

"Come on," she said suddenly. "We should catch back up with our parents."

"Y-yea…"

…

Late afternoon found Ichigo and I walking by the river. We had searched for our parents for a time in downtown, but after while we had decided that it just wasn't worth it. The path by the river was the closest way for both of us to get home, so that's the way we went.

It's late afternoon and the sun is beginning to set. The sky is on fire in hues of orange and red, with the deep blue-black of night just beginning to set in towards the east. The river is again awash with gold like it was during that afternoon when I had bought my uniform and run into Ichigo for the first time. Today it's also windy though, the breeze being strong enough to create little waves across the surface of the river making it look like some kind of abstract painting. I've nearly lost my hat a few times too.

We're both silent. But it's a nice kind of relaxed silence. It's feels perfectly natural to be walking side-by-side with Ichigo on a pretty, late spring afternoon. I can't help but feel just a little be warmer as I realize that we've really grown comfortable with each other.

I suppose really getting to talk today helped. I feel like I know him better, know more about his family and friends. And I saw him laugh, really laugh and smile for the first time today. And it was…amazing. He really is a different person when he's like that. And I can't deny that I want to see more of that side of him.

All of a sudden Ichigo stops. It takes me a second to realize this and when I turn I see that his head is down, eyes hidden by his hair, and his fists are clenched. I frown, concerned.

"Are you ok?"

He doesn't reply, instead turning to face the river. He stares at it for a minute or two and I wait. Just as I'm starting to get impatient he speaks.

"She died here," he says quietly. I start, surprised, but I'm also confused for a moment. Realization hits me as he continues. "This is the spot where my mother died."

"Ichigo…" I murmur his name, at a complete loss for words. Then to my great surprise he continues, telling me about her death. About the spirit he saw that he thought was a person. About how she had tried to protect him. About the guilt and self-hatred he felt.

By the end his fists are shaking and I feel a deep empathy for him. As he told me his story I relived the rollercoaster of emotions from a few weeks ago when I had almost lost my mother. I'm still at a lost for words, but I want to comfort him somehow. I reach my hand up, hesitantly at first, but when I lay it on his shoulder it's with assurance.

His head snaps up and I can see surprise and pent up tears in his eyes. "Ichigo…" his name unintentionally slips through my lips this time as I ache for his loss. I don't know what he sees in my face, because I honestly can't tell what expression I've got at the moment, but I give him the best comforting smile I can manage.

It's slow at first, and it's small, but Ichigo smiles back. The moment between us is a quiet one, but it seems to stretch on infinitely as if time has stopped. I…I don't know what to feel…It's just…I recognize now that I really care about Ichigo. Probably even more than as I friend, I realize, as I find myself pleasantly trapped in his gaze.

The moment is ruined as a sudden gust of wind comes up and blows my hat off my head. I grab for it with a yell and then find my vision blocked by my bright blonde hair. By the time the wind, and my hair, have died down enough for me to see my hat is already in the river floating away.

"Damn it!" I shout, angrily pushing my hair out of my face.

"You know…you really look better without the hat…" Ichigo says thoughtfully, as he considers me carefully.

I stare at him wide-eyed for a moment, my cheeks hot. "Hmph!" I huff in derision. I cross my arms across my chest and glare at him, willing the blush to fade. "You just said that to try to get of paying for the new hat that you owe me."

Ichigo gapes at me for a moment and then scowls back at me, crossing his arms too. "Whatever. I don't owe you anything."

"Yes you do! You ruined that one before when you ran into me and knocked me down. You should have bought me a new one before, but now you have to cause I don't have one."

"That's bullshit. It's not may fault your hat got ruined before."

And so we spent the rest of our walk together arguing about whether he should buy me a new hat or not. It wasn't a real argument though. We were really just joking around. Besides, I had already decided that I wasn't going to be wearing hats anymore.

Author's Note:

Happy New Year everyone! Ok so I realize two things… First is that this chapter is not at all what I said it was going to be. Second is that it was posted way later than I said it was going to be. I have an explanation (or really they're just excuses, but anyways…) for both.

I know I said I would continue writing after the last chapter because it was a good break from schoolwork, but the fact of the matter is that after midterms I really didn't have any free time. However, I graduated in December and until I find a job I will have lots of free time to write.

As for this not being the chapter that I said it would be that's because I thought about it and decided that it would be better not to interrupt the Bleach timeline by throwing this chapter in after Don Kanonji. However, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter and it's probably my favorite one so far. It was also an important chapter to build Ichigo and Taylor's relationship because now they know that they like each other. And there was lots of blushing and awkwardness, but I felt it was appropriate as they are just starting to realize their feelings for each other.

I would like to thank Smilie Faces, Evalyd Yamazaki, ComicXArena, ShatterTheHeavens, Shadow of a Broken Angel, zipscool, Ishihackaloogie, Princess-Lazy-Chan, and ..Rebels for reviewing since the last chapter went up. And I love how many of you there are! I also want to thank everyone who put this story on alert too! As always I love it when people review

Ok so next time I will really get to Don Kanonji. Beyond the next few chapters though I'm not entirely sure where I'm going anymore. I started this story a waaaay long time ago and the original plot I had does not at all fit with what actually happens. I have a couple ideas where I want to go, but even if I pick one I might change my mind again, so we'll just have to see. Anyways, like I said I have lots of free time now so updates should come more regularly, but I make no promises. Sorry , but I will try!

Thanks for reading!

imagination junkie